The Space Mariner & His Celestial Albatross
by J.J. O'Robert
Summary: Altered Universe! Retelling of the Firefly story starting Pre Unification War through Post BDM. Mal/River friendship, later romance. Mal/River Centric. WARNING! Mal is 32 years OLDER than River in this fic...and in the actual series. NOT pedophilic.
1. Chapter 1

The Space Mariner & His Celestial Albatross  
_By J.J. O'Robert_

DISCLAIMER: The Firefly/Serenity characters and storyline are the Property of 20th Century Fox/Universal/Joss Whedon, I'm not sure who owns all the rights but I know its one (if not all) of them. However, the plot of this story and all additional characters are from my own imagination.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Altered Universe, not alternate, just altered. Some proper names and events have been changed to fit the plot and my own sensibilities. Dates, when applicable, will be show as year-month-day. According to my sources, Firefly starts in A.D. 2516 and Serenity starts in A.D. 2517; Mal was born in A.D. 2468 September 20 and River was born in A.D. 2500 December 19. The Unification War began A.D. 2506 and ended A.D. 2511 with the victory of the Union of Allied Planets over the Independent Faction. Now for the purpose of this story, the Union of Allied Planets has been renamed to the Interstellar Union of Sinoanglia and the Independent Faction has been renamed to the Alliance of Independent Planets. I have also changed River birth date to A.D. 2500 July 24 to fit the plot. As well as the outcome and end of the Unification War which, for the integrity of the plot of this story, ended in a stalemate in A.D. 2513 and has carried on into a Cold War between the Interstellar Union and the Independent Alliance.

SUMMERY: Altered Universe! Retelling of the Firefly story starting Pre Unification War through Post BDM. Mal/River friendship, later romance. Mal/River Centric. WARNING! Mal is 32 years OLDER than River in this fic...and in the actual series. NOT pedophilic. Mal first meets River when she is a very young child just before the start of the Unification War. Then a second time just before she sent to the Academy. Then he meets her for the final time after she has escaped from the Academy. The story goes on from there to recount the adventures of the Crew of Serenity with a whole lot more involvement of from River.

A/N2: There are footnotes at the end of the chapter to reference certain ideas in the story text. If there is something you didn't understand and is not referenced please leave a review and I will attempt to explain in a reply or in the a future chapter.

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**Prolog One: Part I**  
A.D. 2506.03.08—2506.07.20  
Aboard I.A.S.S. _Sovereignty_

Master Sergeant Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds of the Alliance Star Marine Corps and commander of First Platoon stood next to Chief Delegate Colleen Malenko on the docking bay of the Independent Alliance Space Ship (I.A.S.S.) _Sovereignty_. They were awaiting the arrival of the ambassador for the Interstellar Union of Sinoanglia. Councilor of State Affairs Gabriel Tam, in the company of his very young daughter River, was due to arrive any minute. The Union Councilor was traveling via Interstellar Union Diplomatic Vessel (I.U.D.V.) _Voice of Reason_. The _Voice of Reason _was a luxury super yacht outfitted with military-grade hardware to protect any Union 2VIP's delicate sensibilities and their lives.

Mal's platoon was currently on guard detail for the diplomatic representative for the Alliance of Independent Planets. Mal's platoon was there to protect the Chief Delegate of the Alliance but Mal's orders were to play babysitter for the Union Councilor's daughter. Mal was chosen for this duty because he was the only person on board with any semi-recent experience with small children; seeing as how he helped his Ma raise his baby sister Allison. Semi-recent because Allison has been a woman grown for nigh on seven years now, taking in account of her joining the military at fifteen just like Mal had. Normally on Shadow, Mal's home planet, a body doesn't become a legal adult until eighteen, but joining the military in between fifteen and seventeen guarantees automatic majority; fifteen being the minimum age requirement for recruitment, fifty-five the maximum.

_Sovereignty_ was an _Independence_-class battlecruiser and the largest ship in the Alliance Space Navy; it also happened to be the flagship of High Admiral Alistair Chelby an old childhood friend and Space Naval Academy buddy of Mal's grandmother, High Admiral Havana Reynolds. Both of whom had left the ranches of Shadow to join the Frontier Space Service; an organization created by the former Coalition of Outer Rim Planets. The purpose of the Frontier Space Service was to police the spaceways against piracy and other such space related crimes. Mal's grandma and the High Admiral had been transferred to the newly created Independent Alliance Space Navy when rumors of an upcoming war against the Interstellar Union started to circulate.

High Admiral Chelby was a large man, tall and bulky with muscle. His features were angular and sharp; he had a very hardened look to him. A look that said he had seen much and didn't like a bit of it. His space black hair swept back into a widow's peak and his piercing ice blue eyes missed nothing. He stood to the right of Chief Delegate Malenko with Captain Chetal Skeia next to him.

Skeia, commander of _Sovereignty_, was a man of some sort of Germanic decent from Earth-that-was. He was very tall and rather lanky with dusty blonde hair and amber colored eyes. The captain was one of the best in the fleet, he had command countless victories against the enemies of his home planet of Hera when he was a member of Heran Star Fleet with very few losses to show.

Mal had joined the Shadow Republic Regular Militia at the age of fifteen to escape the life of a rancher just like his grandma and had quickly risen through the ranks due to his uncanny talent for command. Mal was now thirty-eight and there was talk amongst the brass about offering him a commission. Mal didn't know much about the truth of that as he had been hearing this rumor for a few years now. Besides that, he didn't much care as he had very little use for officers and their ilk. Mal was more than happy to stay right where he was in the non-commissioned officer ranks.

Now Mal's baby sister Allison had no such qualms as she had join the Aerospace Flight Academy as soon as she turned fifteen and spent five years learning how to tell other pilots how to fly. She had graduated from the academy two years ago and was now a Senior Flight Lieutenant in the Alliance Aerospace Force and a member of Shadow Raider Squadron.

Finally, the _Voice of Reason _had finished its docking sequence and the Councilor -plus his entourage- was boarding _Sovereignt_y. The docking bay doors opened and out stepped the Councilor's guards, a team of Startroopers, taking up position on either side of the doors, giving the "all clear" to Councilor Tam and his entourage. Trailing behind the Councilor's entourage was a little girl of no more that five years holding a portable cortex before her, obviously very engrossed in whatever it was showing her.

Councilor Tam acknowledged the presence both High Admiral Chelby and Captain Skeia with a flick of his gaze as he approached Chief Delegate Malenko. Both diplomats had false-easy smiles, bowing to each other, they then shook hands and the Councilor turned to do the same with the High Admiral and the Captain respectively. They all exchanged pleasantries and the High Admiral invited Chief Delegate Malenko, Councilor Tam, two of Tam's entourage and Captain Skeia to dine with him later in his private quarters. Then Malenko stepped to the side setting a hand on Tam's shoulder to usher him towards Malenko's quarters where the other Alliance delegates waited. Both guard parties and the Councilor's entourage followed while the High Admiral and Captain returned to their duties.

Mal was left in the docking bay with the little girl who had yet to acknowledge him. He waited a few more seconds to see if she would lifted her eyes from the cortex screen but she never did. Mal cleared his throat, which must have startled the Councilor's daughter as she jumped a bit and then gazed around quickly before settling her gaze on him. Mal smiled awkwardly to her as he kneeled down to be eye level with her.

"Hello there lil'one, name's Master Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds, but'chyou can just call me Master Sergeant Mal if ya like." He said nodding his head in a mock bow and holding out his hand to her. She bowed to him formally then took his hand with a cheerful smile.

"It is pleasure to meet you Mister Sergeant Mal, I am River Tam." She stated in a way that made him think she was addressing the Chief Delegate instead him, a simple star marine. "Are you the one who will be watching over me while Daddy negotiates a peace agreement with Chief Delegate Malenko?" She asked with a mixture of curiosity and certainty.

Mal had to chuckle, her voice was like water flowing over a rock bed, soft and tinkling. She sure was a cute little thing, what with her small, delicate frame, moon shaped face, flowing dark chocolate curls and her large coffee colored eyes. The way she gazed up at him made him feel like she could see right through him into the deepest recesses of his soul. She was about he cutest little thing he'd ever seen besides his baby sister Allison at her age. She had him wrapped around her little finger in that instant.

"Well River-sweetheart, it's a mighty fine pleasure to meet you too." He said chuckling once again. "And I surely am going to be lookin' after ya whilst yer pa does business with the Chief Delegate. But don't you worry none, we're gonna have us a grand ol' time whilst the busybodies mingle. Whaddya say lil'darlin'? You ready to go have some fun with this mean old sergeant?"

Little River giggled at him and said, "Your accent sounds funny Mister Sergeant Mal." She giggled again. "And you are not old or mean. You have a very young spirit and are a very kind and compassionate person who would do anything to see those you think are innocent and those you love, stay safe no matter what." She stated beaming up at him. Mal was flabbergasted at her words and kneeled there with his jaw on the deck for a few seconds while River continued to giggle at him.

Finally, he just shook his head quickly to clear the haze and gazed down at her wonderingly. Deciding to leave his very many questions and conjurings for another time, he stood and took lil'River's tiny hand in his much larger one and led her off into the direction of the recreation deck.

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[1 Master Sergeant — non commissioned officer in the Alliance Star Marine Corps, E-8 out of E-1 through E-10

[2 Alliance Star Marine Corps — equivalent to U.S. Marine Corps, except in space not on the sea

[3 Mal's First Platoon (for those that may wonder or care) belongs to C Company, 12th Battalion, 44th Regiment, 101st Column, 433rd Stargazer Brigade, 222nd Starship Infantry Division

[4 Interstellar Union of Sinoanglia — I changed the name of the Union of Allied Planets/Anglo-Sino Alliance just because I thought it sounded better and because it made a little more sense (to me anyway) when compared to the type of government the name represents which is basically an authoritarian socialist republic. It's supposed to be a cross between the People's Republic of China and United States of America. Authoritarian Corporate-Socialist Republic in essence is a government that would be a Police State with heavy corporate leanings and a representative legislature.

[5 Councilor of State Affairs — is a member of the Presidential Council and head of the Department for State Affairs, in charge of Interplanetary Relation

[6 2VIP — VIP stands for Very Important Person, there are three levels of VIP. First, there is Very Important Person (VIP) which could be celebrities, corporate officers, low-level politicians & generally rich people. Secondly, Very Very Important Person (VVIP/2VIP) could refer to mid/high-level politicians, wealthy people, religious leaders & corporate leaders. Then there is Very Very Very Important Person (VVVIP/3VIP); such a person could be considered a head of state, corporate tycoon or chief religious leader (the Pope).

[7 Alliance of Independent Planets — I changed the name of the Independent Faction because when I hear "alliance" I think "coalition" or "confederacy" which is more or less several governments/entities working together to advance common goals, each in their own self-interest. Therefore, to my thinking the U.A.P/A-S.A. is very far from an alliance.

[8 High Admiral — commissioned officer in the Alliance Space Navy there are currently six officers holding this rank, O-12 out of O-1 through O-13, equivalent to Admiral of the Navy in the U.S. Navy

[9 Coalition of Outer Rim Planets — predecessor of the Alliance of Independent Planets, formerly part of the I.U.

[10 Senior Flight Lieutenant — commissioned officer in the Alliance Aerospace Force, O-2 out of O-1 through O-13

[11 Alliance Aerospace Force — what the U.S. Air Force would become if we could fly Fighters and Bombers in air and space equally

[12 Startroopers — members of the Startroopers Force, Astral-naval infantry of the I.U. loose equivalent to the U.S. Marines


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Space Mariner & His Celestial Albatross

Author: J.J. O'Robert (jezzjamer)

Rating: G (for now, rating may go up)

Genre: General/Romance

Word Count: 1,131 (per MW)

Disclaimer: The Firefly/Serenity characters and storyline are the Property of 20th Century Fox/Universal/Joss Whedon, I'm not sure who owns all the rights but I know its one (if not all) of them. However, the plot of this story and all additional characters are from my own imagination.

Warning(s): Mal is 32 years OLDER than River in this fic...and in the actual series. NOT pedophilic.

Pairing(s): Mal/River (eventually), Simon/Kaylee (eventually), Wash/Zoe (later established), Jayne/???, Inara/…Clients, Book/…um…God?

Summery: Altered Universe! Retelling of the Firefly story starting Pre Unification War through Post BDM. Mal/River friendship, later romance. Mal/River Centric.

Synopsis: Mal first meets River when she is a very young child just before the start of the Unification War. Then a second time just before she sent to the Academy. Then he meets her for the final time after she has escaped from the Academy. The story goes on from there to recount the adventures of the Crew of Serenity with a whole lot more involvement of from River.

Author's Notes: Altered Universe, not alternate, just altered. Some proper names and events have been changed to fit the plot and my own sensibilities. Dates, when applicable, will be show as year-month-day. According to my sources, Firefly starts in A.D. 2516 and Serenity starts in A.D. 2517; Mal was born in A.D. 2468 September 20 and River was born in A.D. 2500 December 19. The Unification War began A.D. 2506 and ended A.D. 2511 with the victory of the Union of Allied Planets over the Independent Faction. Now for the purpose of this story, the Union of Allied Planets has been renamed to the Interstellar Union of Sinoanglia and the Independent Faction has been renamed to the Alliance of Independent Planets. I have also changed River birth date to A.D. 2500 July 24 to fit the plot. As well as the outcome and end of the Unification War which, for the integrity of the plot of this story, ended in a stalemate in A.D. 2513 and has carried on into a Cold War between the Interstellar Union and the Independent Alliance.

Thanks to _Haloarcher_ for agreeing to beta this for me.

**A/N2: There are footnotes at the end of the chapter to reference certain ideas in the story text. If there is something you didn't understand that is not referenced please leave a review and I will attempt to explain either in a reply or in a future chapter**.

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**Prolog One: Part II**

Mal and Young River stepped off the lift onto the recreation deck to be greeted by the sight and sound of dozens of off duty Spacers and Star Marines taking their leisure. Little River was obviously overwhelmed, she cast her gaze around the room franticly, unable to settle on one activity before going to the next. Mal thought she might become dizzy at this rate and decided to show her around to see if she was interested in any of the many recreational activities available.

The first station Mal showed her had a paddleball table set up with a bench on either side. There was a group of Spacers making use of it now, competing in a small tournament. Mal and River watched for a few minutes but River became bored with this very quickly and asked to move on to the next station.

The next station he showed her had a few Star Marines standing around a billiards table. They too were engaged in a tournament but this one was a bit more intense with lurid and obscene comments being thrown back and forth between the participants. Mal didn't let River stay long to ask him questions about the Star Marines language.

Another station had a mixed group of Spacers and Star Marines sitting at an octagon-shaped game table, playing cards. Mal stood back a bit to watch but noticed River standing on her toes next to him hopping in place trying to get a better view but not succeeding. So Mal stooped down to scoop her up into his arms and held her against his side so she could see. River watched the Spacers and Star Marines play for a moment before turning to him and asking in a very serious tone; "Mister Sergeant Mal, why are this people playing such a simplistic and facile game when there are so many other more challenging games?" Mal and many of the Spacer and Star Marines sitting within hearing range turned to glance at her in bewilderment.

"What'dya mean lil'darlin'? This here is one of the most challengin' card games I can think of." Mal replied with a bit of uncertainty.

"But Mister Sergeant Mal, this game is not challenging at all. It's not even complex, all you have to do is taking into account the value of cards you have in your hand at the current moment verses what you where dealt and what was played by your opponents in the previous hand. Then you use deductive reasoning to determine what cards are currently in play and what cards are left in the deck. Based on those variables you can easily win the majority of every game played." Little River declared with the utmost confidence. Mal and the others around the table just stared at the little sprite of a genius girl, their eyes wide and jaws on the deck-floor in stunned disbelief.

Taking a moment to collect himself, Mal closed his jaw with a click and shook his head in an attempt clear his muddled thoughts. Making a mental note to address this situation with his little charge later; Mal replied, "That may very well be _bao bei_, but not everyone knows how or even likes to play that way. Some think it's too much like cheating because there are a lot of other people who aren't as good with maths. _Dong ma_?"

Little River scrunched her face up in contemplation then nodded her head at him. "Okay Mister Sergeant Mal, that makes sense. Thank you for explaining it for me." She said with a smile. Mal smiled back at her and turned to walk on to the next station with the flabbergasted stares of the card players boring into his back.

Subsequently they came to a station with a large shelf littered with several tabletop games such as chess, mahjong, xiangqi, Stern-Halma, pachisi, backgammon, checkers, dominoes and many, many others. River looked mildly interested so Mal stopped to let her have a closer look while asking if she'd like to play any of the games, to which she replied; "Perhaps later, I want to look around some more first. Maybe there will be something more interesting at a different station." Little River paused for a moment then looked at him quite seriously. "Unless you would like to play one of these games Mister Sergeant Mal, then I'd love to." She said at last with a big smile.

Mal chuckled and replied, "No lil'darlin' I could stand to look 'round some more iffin you're takin' to the notion." Little River nodded her head vigorously then thrust her arm out to point to the next station across the room.

All around the deck, they saw people participating in some form of activity, a few played Virtual Reality (VR) games, while some were watching a holovid on a large cortex screen, still others where at various live-cortex screens watching some form of sporting event. Each person sitting before a cortex screen wore an audio-link in his or her ear so as not to be disturbed by the background noise. In a partitioned section of the deck, a large group was watching a couple of Star Marines sparing on a roped-off platform located in the center of the room with a few others using exercise equipment positioned along the walls.

In fact the only section of the deck not in use was a an art station in far corner set up with several easels, tables and stands and a shelving full of art supplies such as: regular and colored pencils, marker pens, paints and brushes, paper, poster board, blank canvas and modeling clay. The moment Little River spotted the corner filled with art supplies she let out a squeal of joy, jumped out of Mal's arms, and hit the deck running.

Several people looked up from what they were doing startled, trying to determine the source of that very out of place sound. Upon sighting a girl-child in their midst many shuttered in distaste, some looked on in befuddlement, while the rest went back to what they were doing in disinterest. Mal paid them no heed, his focus completely on the little spitfire of a child in his charge.

Mal just stood there where she left him watching in bemusement as she happily chattered away to herself bouncing from art activity to activity until she noticed that Mal was no longer by her side. She stopped bouncing around and looked up at him as if to say _Well don't just stand there you big boob, get over here and finger-paint with me_. Mal grinned at her and waked over to see what she would like to do. "Well now lil'bit, I've got the strangest notion you'd like to use these here artsy things."

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[1 **Spacer** — general descriptive term for a member of the Alliance Space Navy; be they enlisted personnel, non-commissioned officer, commissioned officer or admiralty.

[2 **Star Marine** — general descriptive term for a member of the Alliance Star Marine Corps; be they enlisted personnel, non-commissioned officer, commissioned officer or general staff.

[3 **_Bao Bei_** — treasured object, sweetheart, darling

[4 **_Dong ma_** — understand

[5 **Mahjong** — is a game for four players that originated in China. Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of luck. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game. The object of the game is to build complete suits, or melds, usually of threes, from either 13 or 16 tiles. The first person to achieve this goal wins the game. The winning tile completes the player's set of either 14 or 17 tiles. Source: wikipedia

[6 **Xiangqi** — is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China. Therefore, it's commonly referred to as Chinese chess in English. Distinctive features of Xiangqi include the unique movement of the pao ("cannon") piece, a rule prohibiting the generals (similar to chess kings) from facing each other directly, and the river and palace board features, which restrict the movement of some pieces. Source: wikipedia

[7 **Stern-Halma** — often called Chinese checkers, is a board game that can be played by two to six people. The objective of the game is to place one's pieces in the corner opposite their starting position of a pitted 6-pointed star by single moves or jumps over other pieces. There are 121 marble slots on a Chinese checkerboard.

[8 **Audio-link** — is something I made-up because is sounds more future-tech than "wireless headphones"

[9 **Virtual Reality Games** — VR games exist today, but I figure they may completely replace video games in the future.

[10 **Holovid** — I couldn't think of any other future-tech term for "movie" so I went with it.

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Next up, Prolog One: Part III in which there is a timeskip and Mal prepares for River's departure.

Then there will be Prolog Two. I'm not sure if it will be in one part or more but it invalves teenage River a month or two before she goes off to the Academy and Mal about a year after the war. Mal and his Crew save River and her family from Reavers while the Tams are on vacation.


End file.
